


Dumbapple Pie

by hufflepuffism (septasonicxx)



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Christmas, Dumbapples, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/septasonicxx/pseuds/hufflepuffism
Summary: Cissnei attends her work Christmas party and finds herself talking to the new employee, aka her crush. Real world AU.
Relationships: Cissnei/Genesis Rhapsodos, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Dumbapple Pie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AutumnalBlep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnalBlep/gifts).



> MERRY CHRISTMAS LY-LY I LOVE YOU
> 
> I hope you enjoy this little fic about your OTP.
> 
>  **Pairing:** Genesis/Cissnei, a side of Zack/Aerith  
>  **Setting:** Our world AU  
>  **Character Info:** Most characters work at a ~company~ for... something. Aerith has a flower shop on the side. Cissnei grows Dumbapples. Sephiroth is a famous model. (This isn't actually important to the story, but it's important to me that you know what Sephiroth is up to off-page.)

There was tinsel strung up over the top of the door. Cissnei smiled to herself as she passed beneath it, holding a covered dish in her arms. She was excited for this year's Christmas party, especially since the last year's one was so enjoyable. She'd met so many amazing people through her work and was keen to hang out with them again at a casual event.

Following the decorations down the hall to the kitchen, she beamed as she was met by Aerith.

"Cissnei!" Aerith exclaimed, leaning forward to give her a gentle hug around the food dish. "I'm so glad you could make it. How was the drive?"

"Easy," Cissnei said with a smile. "I didn't get lost this time."

"Good!"

The previous year, Cissnei had found herself in an unfamiliar backstreet as she tried to reach the Christmas party. She'd eventually swallowed her pride and called Aerith for directions, finally arriving late and a little ruffled.

"Oh, just bring that straight through," Aerith said suddenly, looking down at the dish Cissnei was carrying. "What have you brought this time?"

"Dumbapple pie," Cissnei replied, stepping past Aerith to put it in the fridge. "Made from my own Dumbapples, believe it or not!"

"That's amazing!" Aerith said with a smile. "You've really got a knack for the gardening thing, huh?"

"I guess so," Cissnei said with a small, proud smile. "I wasn't expecting the tree to flourish so quickly, especially after being replanted."

"I'll have to come over some time and see it in person," Aerith said as she collected some plastic cups. "Come on – Have you met my boyfriend Zack?"

Shaking her head, Cissnei followed the other woman through to the large living area where quite a few people were already gathered, some Christmas carols just audible beneath the sound of chatter.

"I have the cups!" Aerith announced, and the items were abruptly snatched as people took them over to a table with bottles of soft drink and juice.

Grabbing Cissnei's hand, Aerith led her over to a corner of the room where three young men stood in conversation.

"Zack," she said, her eyes bright as the man with black hair turned to face her. "This is Cissnei. You remember me telling you about her, right?"

"Cissnei!" the man, Zack, exclaimed excitedly. "So good to finally meet you!" He came forward and enveloped her in a sudden hug, making her cheeks tinge pink in surprise. "Aerith says you hold the company together, is that true?"

Laughing nervously, Cissnei shook her head and avoided his eyes. "No, not at all."

"I like your hair," Zack went on. "I don't see many redheads. Other than Gen, of course."

"It's _Genesis_ ," hissed the redheaded man standing beside Zack. A scowl had crossed his face, but as he turned to Cissnei his expression cleared to polite interest. "Genesis Rhapsodos," he introduced himself, extending a hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

Cissnei couldn't speak for a moment. She knew Genesis. How hadn't she noticed him right away? He was one of the new employees that she'd been crushing on as soon as she'd seen his chiseled face from a distance.

He had his hand in front of her, waiting for her to shake it. A single strand of hair hung over his right eyebrow. His eyes were mesmerising.

"Um," she said intelligently. Giving herself a quick mental shake and hoping that only a second had passed (and not a whole minute like it felt to her) she took his hand and smiled back. "Cissnei."

"Would you like a drink?" Genesis asked.

"A drink?" Cissnei asked.

"Yes," Genesis said with a nod. "Any excuse to get away from this boy and his love of puns."

"My puns are my best feature!" Zack protested.

"That's not something you should advertise," Genesis said with a frown. Gently taking Cissnei's arm, he guided her away from the group to the drinks table instead. "I hope you don't mind. I just can't stand him."

"Oh, that's okay," Cissnei said, glancing briefly over her shoulder to check if Aerith was upset. But Aerith was still smiling at Zack with stars in her eyes. "Why can't you stand him?"

"He's far too rambunctious for my liking," Genesis explained. "It's a wonder he still has a position with the company."

"He works for the company?" Cissnei asked in surprise. She didn't remember seeing him around and didn't think Aerith had mentioned that to her.

Genesis hummed an affirmative as he scanned the drink options, then said, "He's an outsourcer. Always travelling and meeting people or something, so he's hardly ever around the offices." Reaching his arm across to a bottle of pineapple juice, he picked it up and held it questioningly in front of Cissnei. "How's this?"

"Perfect," she replied with a nod.

Genesis poured them both a drink and passed one of the cups to her. Cissnei took it firmly, not entirely sure whether she was actually shaking from nerves or not, but deciding it would be best to ensure she had a firm grip either way.

"So," Genesis said as they gradually moved away from the drinks table. "Have you been working for the company long?"

"A few years now," Cissnei said, taking a tentative sip of her drink after speaking. Her throat was feeling particularly dry.

"Do you enjoy it?" he asked, looking at her sideways as they meandered towards the massive Christmas tree which had been set up in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the room.

"Absolutely," she said instantly, thinking of all the fun she'd had since joining the company.

They came to a stop in front of the Christmas tree and Cissnei had another sip of her pineapple juice. She could feel Genesis standing beside her and wanted so badly to turn her head and stare at him, but forced herself to continue looking at the Christmas tree. Right in front of her line of sight was a candy cane, a purple bauble (which made her think of Dumbapples), and an ornamental hanging Chocobo.

Genesis cleared his throat and Cissnei glanced over at him before she could stop herself. He was looking at her, his eyes bright and hypnotising.

"What do you like to do when you're not at work?" he asked.

What did she like to do? Anything? She couldn't think of anything that wasn't embarrassing. She looked ahead at the Christmas tree again, hoping that her cheeks weren't as red as they felt, and her eyes fixed on the purple bauble.

"I've actually just gotten into gardening recently," she said, thinking of her Dumbapple tree. Gardening wasn't embarrassing, was it?

"Really?" Genesis asked curiously, his eyes still on her. The side of her face felt like it was burning from the attention of his gaze. "What kind of gardening? Flowers? Vegetables?"

"Uh, I bought a Dumbapple tree- I mean, a Banora White." Cissnei took another sip of pineapple juice to smooth away the sudden lump which had appeared in her throat and kept looking straight ahead. "They're difficult to grow if relocated, which is what I did to get it in my garden, but my tree has been flourishing surprisingly well so far! I was even able to pick some of the Dumbapples to use in the pie I made for tonight."

Drinking more pineapple juice, she waited for Genesis to make another polite comment and tried to think of a question she could ask him in return. She needed to show him that she was interesting to talk to or else he might get bored and go find someone else.

But he didn't make another comment, so Cissnei gave in and turned her head to look at him. She felt a jolt of surprise to find him staring at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. Had she said something wrong?

"You have a Dumbapple tree?" he asked finally.

"Yes?"

His eyes drifted away from hers and unfocused, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. He looked caught up in a memory, but a memory of what?

"Genesis?" she asked softly. "Are you alright?"

"Am I-?" Blinking a few times, Genesis focused his eyes back on Cissnei as if just remembering she was there. "No, I mean... Yes. I'm fine."

Cissnei bit her bottom lip and looked down at her cup, unsure of where to go with the conversation from here. Something she said had definitely affected him, but she wasn't sure what, so how could she say anything else?

"Uh-" Genesis cleared his throat. "-you bake?"

"Yes," Cissnei said shyly, glancing up at him. "My mother loves to bake as well and I think I got the love of it from her. We always bake together for the holidays."

"Will you be getting together with your family this Christmas?" Genesis asked.

"Yes," she said with a grin, latching onto the easy topic. "We'll make gingerbread cookies and shortbread. Then we'll pull out all the coloured icing and decorate them all to look like Christmas trees or Santas." Just thinking about her family's Christmas traditions was making her excited. She couldn't wait for her dad to come over and kiss her head right before yanking a Santa-hat onto her head like he did every year.

"Sounds like a lot of fun," Genesis said with a smile.

"Does your family get together for Christmas?" Cissnei asked politely.

"No," he said quietly, turning his gaze to the Christmas tree with a frown. "I've never been close with my parents. I usually spend Christmas with my friend Angeal and his family instead."

"Oh, I see," Cissnei said softly, rubbing her thumb against her cup absent-mindedly. "Are they nice people?"

"The best," Genesis said with a smile, looking back at her just as she glanced up at him.

Cissnei was caught off guard by the warmth in his eyes and his smile. She could tell that he felt strongly about his friend's family and was glad that he had such wonderful people around him for the holidays. But his smile was disarming and she was forgetting her words.

Just then, she was saved from having to come up with an intelligent reply as something was shouted to them from the other side of the room. Cissnei and Genesis turned in unison to see Zack pitching something towards them.

Flinching and cowering a little with her hands up in front of her face for protection, Cissnei waited for the impact.

It didn't come.

Slowly lowering her hands and looking up, she saw Genesis had stepped in front of her and caught the projectile so that it didn't hit her. Now that it wasn't flying through the air, she could see that it was a wrapped Christmas present.

"What did he say?" Cissnei asked, looking back over at where Zack was standing looking smug, talking to Aerith and a man who looked like Zack's older brother.

"'Catch'," Genesis replied drily, turning the present over in his hands carefully as if he were holding a bomb.

"Are you going to open it?" Cissnei asked. "Or do you think he wanted you to put it under the tree for him?"

"There's no tag," Genesis said, turning to show Cissnei the lack of any label or written name telling who the present was for.

Cissnei looked over at Zack again and saw him watching them expectantly. When he caught her eye, he mouthed 'open it'.

"I think he wants you to open it," she said.

With a heavy sigh, Genesis tore off the wrapping paper to reveal the gift underneath.

"Is that-?" Cissnei began, eyes wide.

Genesis was staring at the gift in his hands, the torn wrapping paper littering the floor around his feet. He was holding a limited edition copy of _Loveless_ , containing the original poem, the complete musical playscript, and pages of concept art in the back. The cover was a beautiful pale blue with golden filigree around the edges, and the title was printed in embossed golden lettering.

"It's beautiful," Cissnei murmured.

"I can't believe he threw it at me," Genesis whispered in horror, face pale as he let his fingers lightly trace the cover and the spine.

Cissnei found herself smiling as she watched Genesis inspect the book. She was a fan of _Loveless_ herself and hadn't met very many other people who truly appreciated it the way she did, but from the look on Genesis's face she was fairly certain he was one of the few.

"I should get this copy for myself," Cissnei mused. "My old one is beginning to fall apart."

Genesis looked up at her sharply. "You have a copy of _Loveless_?"

"...Yes?"

"You've read it?"

"Yes."

"Have you seen the play?"

"Yes, it's my favourite," she said with a nervous laugh. She couldn't tell if the stare he'd fixed her with was good or bad.

He continued to stare at her for a moment silently, then shook his head in disbelief. Disbelief of _what_ , she wasn't entirely sure.

"You're my dream girl," he muttered to himself.

Cissnei felt blood rush to her cheeks again and Genesis suddenly froze in utter horror, his eyes wide as he realised what he'd said aloud.

"I didn't... I... I don't mean-"

Saving him from his floundering came the call for dessert. Cissnei turned quickly towards where the food had been laid out on a table and joined the flow of people making their way there.

She and Genesis were separated and she found herself beside Aerith again as they reached the table and took a bowl each to serve themselves dessert.

"Having a good night?" Aerith asked congenially as they moved around each other to get fruit, ice cream, pie, and cake.

"Yes," Cissnei said quietly, hoping that the awkwardness she was feeling wasn't clear on her face. Part of her wanted to look over her shoulder and see if Genesis was watching her, but she resisted the urge.

"You and Genesis seemed to be getting along well," Aerith said.

"Did we?" Cissnei asked in a slightly higher pitched voice.

Aerith didn't seem to notice, and moved away from the table with Cissnei once they had both loaded their bowls, saying, "I'm so glad Zack got the deluxe edition of _Loveless_ for Genesis. They got off on the wrong foot, I think, and Zack asked me how he could make it up to the man."

"He loves it," Cissnei said, remembering the look on Genesis's face when he'd opened it up and seen the intricate cover.

She suddenly caught sight of him at the desserts table, getting himself a large helping of Dumbapple pie and nothing else. She watched him step away from the table, take a bite of the pie, and close his eyes in rapture.

Blushing _again_ , Cissnei quickly turned away from him and tried to distract herself with her own food.

The evening wore on and Cissnei spoke to many of her work friends, receiving compliments on the pie and hearing about all their different plans for Christmas. She found herself talking to Zack again at one point and was able to get to know him a bit better without Genesis there to pull her away. He was cheerful and friendly, and Cissnei felt that he was perfect for Aerith; Aerith couldn't keep the smile from her face whenever she was by his side or looking at him.

At the end of the night they opened their Kris Kringle presents from under the tree and Cissnei received a popular new board game that she was excited to try out. She also subtly kept an eye on Reno, another colleague whom she had bought for, and was pleased to see his wide grin when he opened his present to reveal a Nerf gun.

With presents distributed and food eaten, the night came to a close. Cissnei hugged people as they set off and then made her way to the kitchen to help Aerith clean up. It didn't take long with the two of them working together, even though they were also chatting away about the great night they'd had. Cissnei made sure to tell Aerith she thought Zack was lovely, and Aerith beamed at her in pleasure.

When Cissnei exited the kitchen again, she was surprised to find Genesis still standing in the living room beside the Christmas tree. She'd tried not to look for him when people were leaving, although her eyes had roamed a few times without her say-so, and she thought perhaps that he had slipped out without her knowing so as to avoid the awkwardness from before.

But here he was, standing beside the Christmas tree with the _Loveless_ book in his hand and a nervous look on his face.

He caught her eye instantly and she _knew_ he'd been waiting for her.

"You haven't left yet?" she asked as she walked over to him, trying to keep her voice light.

"No, I haven't," Genesis replied, looking down at the book in his hand before looking back up at her. "I wanted to talk to you. About before."

Thinking that he was embarrassed and planning to apologise, Cissnei quickly said, "Oh no, it's completely fine. It's forgotten already."

Genesis frowned at her and shook his head. "I've never met anyone like you before," he said, and Cissnei became suddenly aware of her pulse beating in her throat. "You're a fan of _Loveless_ , you make the best Dumbapple pie I've ever tasted, and you... you're beautiful."

"What?" Cissnei breathed. Was she dreaming?

"I would very much like to take you to dinner," Genesis said, giving her a small smile. "If... you would be interested?"

Cissnei tried to open her mouth and say yes, but no words came out. She was in shock, unable to process how the night had brought her here, to a handsome man asking her to dinner. Her heart was beating fast and she could feel her palms getting sweaty.

Finally, she managed to force the words out: "Yes. I'd love to."

A grin broke across Genesis's face and he reached out with his free hand to take hers, lifting it up so that he could press a kiss to the back of her hand.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Cissnei," he said as she trembled before him. "I want you to have this."

The _Loveless_ book was suddenly in her hands and her mouth fell open in surprise. The cover was softer than she'd expected and she realised it must be made from real leather. It was absolutely gorgeous.

"I can't possibly take thi-"

She looked up from the book just in time to see Genesis disappear out the door, leaving her standing in the room by herself with the last half of a word on her tongue. Turning her gaze back to the book, she shook her head slowly in disbelief and traced the gold lettering of the title before carefully opening up to the first page.

Genesis had slipped a note inside. In a flowing script he had written his name and phone number, and a very simple _Merry Christmas_.

Stepping as close to the window behind the Christmas tree as she could, Cissnei tried to catch another glimpse of Genesis. But he had already gone, and all she could see in the light of a streetlamp were the beginnings of snow drifting down from the sky.

Tomorrow, the world would be a beautiful white.

Cissnei stepped away from the window, clutching the book to her chest, and smiled.


End file.
